


Tumblr Fills

by viennasunrise (kteaanne)



Category: Avengers Academy (Video Game), Avengers Assemble, Marvel 616, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Established Relationship, Fluff, Getting Together, Halloween, M/M, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-21
Updated: 2016-10-11
Packaged: 2018-07-16 12:15:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7267732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kteaanne/pseuds/viennasunrise
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of all the little drabbles I've published over on Tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Tiny Reverse Bang Round One

“No–wait. Steve, we have class!” Tony complained as Steve pulled him into the first empty classroom they came across.

“It’s fine, Tony. It’s just a test review. Pym’s already gone over everything important anyway. You’ll be fine,” Steve said as he latched the door behind them.

“It’s not _me_ I’m worried about. You barely passed the quiz last week.”

Steve closed the distance between them, pulling Tony in by his hips. “And that,” Steve kissed Tony’s nose, “is why,” Steve kissed his eyebrow, “I have,” Steve kissed his cheek, “you.” Steve kissed him full on the mouth.

Tony squirmed and pushed at Steve’s chest, trying to get a bit of distance between them. “Is that what this is?”

Steve let go and backed up a few steps and leaned against the teacher’s desk, a look of total confusion on his face. “I don’t understand that question.”

Tony ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. He’d been so convinced that he and Steve were on the right track, that this was going somewhere. He didn’t want to admit it, especially now that he knew why Steve was hanging around, but he’d been thinking about dropping the L-word for a while now. He took a deep breath, told himself he could cry about it later, and locked eyes with Steve.

“You’re just using me, aren’t you? You’re not so good at the science stuff and you thought, what, that if you fucked me maybe I’d do your homework for you? Maybe you could cheat off me for the test? What the hell, Steve! You were supposed to be the nice guy!”

Steve looked like he was going to punch him; Tony was convinced of it. Steve shrugged off the desk and took a few steps toward Tony but stopped the second he saw Tony flinch.

“I’m not–”Steve said thickly, “I’m not trying to use you, Tony. God, I would never do that. I _love_ you.”

It took Tony a few seconds to catch up with what Steve just said; to process that Steve told him he loves him.

“You do?” Tony asked and stared resolutely at the floor.

Steve put a warm hand on Tony’s shoulder and squeezed. “Yeah. I’ve kind of been planning to tell you for a while but I wanted it to be special. Not, you know, in an empty classroom while we’re ditching class.”

Tony looked up then to find Steve’s piercing blue eyes just a few inches away from his. He smiled a little and leaned into Steve’s touch, the blond pulling him close.

“Then what did you mean ‘that’s why I have you’?”

Steve sighed. “Tony, you’re brilliant. You know more about Pym’s kind of science than I’ll ever know and you’re extremely good at explaining it. Every time I ask you to explain something to me I finally get it. You’re the only reason I’m passing that class. I–I really didn’t mean that I wanted to cheat off you.”

Tony wrapped both his arms around Steve’s waist and held on tight. Knowing Steve loved him was a lot more overwhelming than he expected. “I love you too, you know.”

“Yeah?” Steve asked in a small voice, ducking his head again to try and make eye contact with Tony.

“Yeah,” Tony said, looking up at him.

Before he knew what was happening, Steve pulled them both back to the desk and had Tony in his lap.

“Say it again,” Steve said smiling,

Tony smiled, “I love you, Steven Grant Rogers.” And he sealed it with a kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The art for round one can be found [here](http://capim-tinybang.tumblr.com/post/146106573223/trb2016avenger).


	2. Kiss Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Oky pls stony the fuck outta those prompts and lets see 23?

“I’m serious, Tony. Knock it off.”

“Why? What are you going to do about it?” Tony taunted, bouncing up and down on his tiptoes as he tried to keep the sketchbook out of Steve’s hands. Considering Steve towered over him by about 5 inches it didn’t matter much; Steve was going to win no matter what Tony did.

Steve sighed and pressed closer, reaching for the sketchbook. Tony felt his heart rate spike and he lost track of what he was supposed to be doing, just long enough for Steve to swipe the sketchbook back out of his hand.

“Thank you,” Steve said, tucking the sketchbook under his arm again as he bent down to pick up his backpack. Tony jumped to try and grab the sketchbook back but Steve was faster, whipping it away from him at the last second. He narrowed his eyes at Tony and smiled.

“I’m watching you, mister. Hands off my sketchbook. Go get your own.”

Tony narrowed his eyes back at Steve. “We both know I can’t draw worth shit. Why the hell won’t you let me see what’s in there!?”

“It’s–” Steve paused, his whole face up to the tip of his ears turning bright red, “–it’s nothing, Tony. Just let it go.”

“You see,” Tony said, jokingly, “your words tell me one thing but your face is telling me something completely different. I thought we were friends! What could you possibly have in there that you don’t want me to see? Have you been drawing nudes of Carter? She’s going to kill you if she ever finds out!”

Steve blushed deeper and Tony felt his stomach drop. He’d mostly been kidding about Steve drawing nudes of Peggy but now he was genuinely worried that was what Steve was hiding. He was kind of hoping there might be some drawings of him in there but he knew that was a long shot. Steve was as straight as the day was long.

“There’s nothing about Peggy in here. Just let it go,” Steve looked like he was either about to run or hide.

“Well if it isn’t Carter then who is it?” Tony demanded.

“No one. Don’t worry about it, Tony.” Steve shoved the sketchbook in his bag, zipped it up violently, and shrugged it onto his shoulder.

Tony snatched Steve’s arm before he could escape and pulled him to a stop. Steve wobbled a little, thrown off balance by Tony’s last ditch effort to keep him from retreating down the hall, and dropped his gaze to his shoes.

“Steve,” Tony said more gently than before, “you’re incredibly talented. I just wanted to see your art. That’s all. I didn’t mean to freak you out or anything. Sorry.”

“‘S fine,” Steve mumbled to the carpet. And fuck it if that didn’t piss Tony off.

“No it isn’t. Will you just look at me for a second?”

Steve lifted his eyes to Tony’s and he looked about as big as Tony felt. Tony squeezed his arm reassuringly and smiled softly. “I’m sorry, ok? It won’t happen again. If you want to show me your art then you can but I’m not going to force you into it.”

 “Thanks, Tony. I’d show you but I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Why?” Tony stepped closer and shifted his hand to Steve’s shoulder.

Steve shut his eyes and took a deep breath. He clenched his jaw and when he opened his eyes to look down at Tony he looked like he was getting ready to face an army of robots single handedly and he wasn’t happy about it.

“Becauseeverythinginhereisadrawingofyouandidon’twantyoutothinki’mgrossbecauseikindofhaveahugecrushonyouandinevergotaroundtotellingyouandpleasedon’thatemeireallystillwantotbefriends.”

“I’m sorry,” Tony blinked in surprise, “what the hell did you just say?”

Steve took another deep breath and closed his eyes. “All the drawings in here are of you, Tony. I didn’t want to risk our friendship because I have some kind of stupid crush on you so I never told you that I’ve had a thing for you since freshmen year. But it’s fine. I know you’re into Pepper and we’re just friends. I just don’t want things to be weird. That’s all.”

“Kiss me,” Tony found himself saying. He didn’t plan it. It just fell out.

Steve’s eyes snapped open and Tony wanted to cry from the little hopeful look Steve was giving him.

“Did you mean that?” Steve asked.

“Yes,” Tony said without a second thought. “Kiss me.”

Steve cradled Tony’s face softly in his hands and leant down slowly, slotting their lips together in what Tony officially considered the best first kiss of all time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The tumblr fill can be found [here](https://viennasunrise.tumblr.com/post/150662290260/oky-pls-stony-the-fuck-outta-those-prompts-and). Come say hi!!


	3. Is there a special reason as to why you are wearing my shirt?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: 144 stony please?

It had been a very long, hard mission. He’d found himself trapped, without an escape plan, on no less that four separate occasions and he had never been more glad to be home. If it wasn’t for the weeks of grime still trapped in his matted hair he would have gone immediately to bed but he didn’t smell good and he knew the mound of blankets currently occupying the middle of his bed wouldn’t appreciate it much if he crawled into bed like this. So… Shower time.

Steve spun the shower knob to its hottest setting before starting to peel the suit off. If he wasn’t so concerned about being quick he would have noticed the little indentations the seams had made all over his body; clearly he’d been trapped in the suit for far too long.

He stepped gingerly into the shower, positioning himself so the water cascaded over his shoulders and he felt himself melt into the heat. He’d been cold for most of the mission (Russia had a nasty habit of being cold) and he’d hated it. He always hated the cold now.

Once the tension in his shoulders relaxed he moved on to scrubbing his hair clean. The tea-tree oil shampoo Tony insisted on buying made his scalp tingle and he felt a shiver run up his spine from the sensation. He didn’t know he could miss expensive soap this much; maybe Tony wasn’t totally crazy.

When his hair was thoroughly cleaned and he’d scrubbed the layers of the last few weeks off his skin he shut the shower off, toweled dry, and made his way to the closet in search of pajamas. Usually he and Tony had more interesting things to do than actually get dressed for bed (once Steve had suggested it and he would never forget the affronted face Tony’d made) but he was far too tired tonight and clean clothes were too tempting.

He flicked on the light to the closet and had to physically restrain himself from shouting out loud. Clothes were everywhere! Nothing was on hangers like it was supposed to be, drawers had clearly been thrown open haphazardly with shirts and pants falling out of them as if the tower had been robbed. What was once a nice line of organized shoes now gave way to a chaotic tangle of neck ties and crumpled towels. It took Steve more than five minutes to find a clean pair of boxers and a t-shirt (obviously Tony’s) that he could throw on before making his way to bed.  
He pulled back the covers to find Tony, hair askew and t-shirt rucked up above his nipple, flat on his stomach and clearly completely passed out. Steve smiled softly, realizing now how much he’d missed Tony in the weeks they’d been apart, and slid in between the covers. Within seconds, true to form, Tony wiggled his way over and octopused himself around Steve. Steve leaned over and kissed him gently on the temple before closing his eyes.

“You’re home,” Tony said, still somewhat asleep.

“I am,” Steve said smiling, “go back to sleep.”

“No. You’re home.”

Steve laughed despite himself. “We covered that bit. Go back to sleep. We can talk in the morning.”

But it was no use. Tony propped himself up on his elbows and glared down at Steve, “You showered.”

“Yes?” Steve really didn’t see what the big deal was.

“You showered without me.”

“You were asleep.”

Tony rolled his eyes, clearly in a dramatic mood. “You’re not allowed to shower without me. It’s a rule.”

Steve smiled again. “There’s always–”

“Excuse me! Is there a special reason why you’re wearing my shirt?” Tony looked askance.

“Have you seen the closet?”

Tony’s face turned red and he looked away, as if he was ashamed of something.

“Tony?” Steve prompted. Clearly something had happened that Tony wasn’t proud of.

“Imayhavehadapanicattackwhenicouldntfindyourhoodie.Itsnobigdeal.”

“You lost my hoodie?”

If possible, Tony flushed deeper. “Well, no. It was down in the lab the whole time. I just thought I lost it.”

“And you thought tearing apart the closet was the best way to find it?”

“Well it seemed like the logical thing at the time!” Tony flopped over onto his back. Steve followed and dropped his forehead to Tony’s.

“It’s cute that you freaked out.”

Tony’s bottom lip jutted out in a pout. “It’s not cute.”

“It’s adorable.” Steve replied and he planted a kiss to Tony’s nose. “You’re adorable.”

“Get off me, Rogers.”

“Not until you say the magic word.”

“Please.”

“That’s not the one I’m thinking of.”

Tony rolled his eyes and wrapped his arms around Steve’s neck, pulling him in for a kiss. They stayed like that for several minutes, lost in the moment before Steve pulled away.

“Correct answer,” he said with a smile and rolled of and away from Tony. He turned over to readjust the covers and before he was totally resituated Tony had managed to wiggle back over and plaster himself over Steve’s chest.

“I missed you, WInghead.”

Steve smiled and wrapped his arms around Tony’s waist. “I missed you too, Shellhead.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Tumblr fill can be found [here](https://viennasunrise.tumblr.com/post/150811218670/144-stony-please). Come say hi!!


	4. I loved you and then you were gone…and I knew I lost you.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Hi please can you write a stony fic for prompt 65 or 63?

The broken wheel on the half-filled cart he is pushing is really starting to wear on Steve. Shuffling through the grocery store, trying to find a way to stretch $30 over two weeks, he finds himself day-dreaming again. A pair of bright blue eyes flash through his mind and he has to grip the handle of the cart harder to keep himself from tripping over his own feet. He has a number taped to the fridge back home; he could make things right but he won’t. He has 29 days worth of evidence to prove it. He’s a coward and he knows it.

He finishes filling up the cart with things from the day-old bread cart, the managers special meat, and whatever fruit is on the best sale. He unloads the cart onto the conveyer belt and holds his breath as he watches the bill start to add up. The total rings up to $31.15 and, embarrassed, he decides he can live a few weeks without bread. He barely makes it at $29.87, collects his bags, and makes his way out of the store.

Steve walks the few blocks back to his studio apartment, busies himself putting the groceries away, and slumps down on his sorry excuse for a couch. The dingy walls feel like they are closing in on him and he has to drop his head between his knees to keep himself from panicking. It takes him several minutes before his breathing comes back under control and the tears finally spill over and he sobs into his hands and breaks apart under the weight of the last 30 days of his life.

“I’m so sorry,” he mumbles into his hands, “I’m so very sorry. I loved you and then you were gone… and I knew I lost you.”

He curls up on the couch, tucking his knees up to his chest and starts to hiccup. He thinks of all the “should haves” and the “would haves” and the “if onlys” and his mind won’t stop racing; wondering about how his life would be different now if he hadn’t been such an idiot and let Tony walk out of his life forever a month ago. Things were never supposed to end this way but Steve knows nothing can fix it. He wants to all the way down to his bones; but he can’t. Even if he were brave enough to finally call Tony and try to talk there isn’t anything he can say that would fix things. Tony’d made it perfectly clear that he wanted nothing to do with Steve. Eventually he was going to have to accept that fact, work through the pain, and move on. For now he was content to let it rule him. Maybe it isn’t healthy (it absolutely isn’t healthy) but working through it means finally letting Tony go. And that he knows he isn’t ready to do yet. Maybe after a few hundred more days he’ll consider it but for now sob-fests on his couch are preferable to finally letting everything go.

Steve allows himself a few more minutes of being pathetic before he slowly sits back up, dries his cheeks with the heels of his hands, and starts to make himself something to eat. He nibbles his way through a few left overs he has saved in the fridge, not having much of an appetite, before he sits back down at the couch and pulls out his sketchbook. It’s pages are filled with sketches of Tony; his eyes, his hands, his chest. All have been sketched from memory and Steve flips through the worn and tattered pages and feels his heart lurch in his chest. It’s painful and he feels like the memories might overtake him but he pushed it aside and tries to think of happier times. Sometimes he does feel grateful that he’d ever had a chance to love Tony, even if it kills him now.

He’s lost himself in a new perspective sketch of Tony’s hands on his hips and almost misses the knock on the door. It’s four in the afternoon on a Saturday and he’s not expecting anyone. He carefully shuts the sketchbook, slides it under the couch for safe keeping, and walks over to the door. He’s just shorter than the peep-hole and has to stretch up onto his toes a bit to get a proper look and then his heart falls out his chest.

Tony, for god knows why, is standing on the opposite side of the door. Steve’s palms start to sweat and he can’t seem to take a full breath. He’s about to panic and then Tony wraps his knuckles on the door again so he decides he can pretend that he’s brave and unlocks the door. He swings it open and clears his throat and mumbles hello.

“Look at me,” Tony says, not unkindly.

Steve lifts his eyes to Tony’s and his whole body yearns to reach out and touch.

“What the fuck, Rogers?”

“Ex-” Steve stammers, “excuse me?”

“I said ‘What the fuck, Rogers’.” Tony pushes toward him and Steve backs up into his apartment, allowing him entrance. Steve slowly closes the door behind him and tries to reconcile the site before him. Tony Stark, love of his life, is standing in his dingy studio apartment in Brooklyn and has given no explanation for why.

Tony spins on his heels to face Steve, looking very impatient. “Well?”

“I have no idea what you want from me,” Steve says, staring at the floor.

“I want to know why it took me over a fucking month to find you after you took off. I want an explanation for why you left me behind for this absolute shit hole you live in, and I’d like to know why I had divorce papers delivered to my office in the middle of a meeting yesterday and you want fucking nothing.”

“I,” Steve flushes and can’t control the wobble in his voice, “I–Tony you walked out and I didn’t see you for three weeks. I fucked up and you didn’t want me anymore. So–so I packed up and left. I don’t want to take anything from you, Tony. You’ve earned everything you have and I don’t have the right to ask you for any of it. Especially when this is all my fault to begin with.”  
Steve suddenly finds his personal space invaded as Tony tips Steve’s chin up, forcing him to meet Tony’s eyes.

“I never told you to go. Or, I didn’t mean to. I just needed some time to cool off and then Pepper was calling me with some emergency in China and I got caught up in work things and then it had been four days and I thought I’d be home soon enough and I knew we needed to talk and I didn’t want to do it over the phone and then four days turned into three weeks and then I came home and all of your stuff was missing and I couldn’t find you anywhere and–” Tony finally takes a breath, a stray tear rolls down his cheek and Steve wants to reach out and wipe it away with his thumb but he misses his chance and Tony keeps talking, “I–Steve, I never wanted you gone. We just needed to take a break. We weren’t getting anywhere fighting and I didn’t want you to wind up with an asthma attack. I–please don’t let this be the thing that ends us.”

Steve finally allows himself to touch, reaching up to Tony’s face and gently cupping his cheek. Tony leans into his touch and closes his eyes.

“We are both fucking morons,” Steve says, stepping closer to Tony. Almost like clockwork Tony wraps his arms around Steve’s waist and pulls him close. Wrapped in his arms, Steve feels his heart release for the first time in over a month and he sighs, finally feeling at home. “And we need to fucking work on our communication because this is fucking ridiculous.”

“I love it when you swear like a sailor. It’s like your tiny body can’t hold in all the anger,” Tony laughs and squeezes Steve in his arms. “But yes. Clearly we have issues.”

“We need a goddamn marriage therapist if this is how we’ve been dealing with our issues,” Steve tips his head up and locks eyes with Tony. “I mean it. This never happens again.”  
Tony smiles tightly. “If that’s what you need so you’ll come back home with me then I’ll agree to it.”

“Thank you. Now can we please go home.”

Tony closes the few inches of space between them and kisses Steve breathless. “The sooner we get out of this shit hole the better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Tumblr post can be found [here](https://viennasunrise.tumblr.com/post/151181461335/hi-please-can-you-write-a-stony-fic-for-prompt-65). Come say hi!!


	5. You'll be the death of me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Hello can you write a stony for 84 or 79? Preferably with a crossdressing tony?

Despite knowing what he’s about to witness, Steve still finds himself shocked when he finally wanders up to Tony’s room, looking for him and knowing damn well he’s hiding in the closet and is refusing to come out. They’re supposed to be at the party already and Tony, suddenly seriously questioning their couples costume and throwing a temper tantrum about it. The sight… makes Steve’s mouth go dry.

Originally, when Jan made the joke and Tony’s eyes got all big and excited, Steve thought this idea was perfect. Between Tony’s enthusiasm, Steve’s love of 1940′s cinema, and the shock factor he assumed they’d be a shoo-in for best couples costume. But now, seeing the finished product for the first time, he’s doubting his decision making skills. They might win best costume but it’s going to take amounts of self control Steve’s not sure he has to keep his hands off Tony all night. Ginger and Fred. What the fuck were they thinking?

Tony’s leaning against the wall, his eyes shut and the line of his throat a welcome distraction from the rest of him. Steve’s eyes can’t stop wandering over his body and he has to physically restrain himself from closing the distance between them and making damn sure they miss the rest of the party. There’s something about the way Tony’s body curves in the black silk dress he’s wearing that Steve can’t get over; the whole effect is intoxicating. It takes a herculean effort to stay by the door. Steve clears his throat and Tony opens his eyes but doesn’t move away from the wall.

“Steeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeve,” Tony whines, squeezing his eyes shut again, “I don’t wanna! This dress is tight and I hate wearing these stupid stockings and the heels hurt!”

“Too bad,” Steve says, his voice gruff and low, “we promised Natasha and Bucky that we’d be there. There’s no backing out now. Come on,” he gestures for Tony to get moving, “we’re late.”

Tony shrugs away from the wall and sashays over to Steve. “These heels are going to kill me. And I blame you.” He pokes Steve in the chest by way of hello.

“Blame Jan,” Steve says as he wraps his arms around Tony’s waist. He leans in as Tony tips his chin just right and soon Steve’s lost the ability to breathe and the room’s become far too warm.

He pulls away, knowing they’re going to be lucky if Natasha doesn’t flay them alive the second they walk through the door–they’re hopelessly past ‘fashionably late’. “You’ll be the death of me,” he says, smiling at Tony. He kisses him quickly on the nose before dropping his arms and grabbing Tony by the wrist, determined to pull him out of the closet by force if he has to.

“Fine,” Tony caves, smiling back at Steve, “but I expect there to be dancing, and booze, and and you better treat me like a real lady.”

* * *

Steve manages to treat Tony like a real lady for just shy of twenty minutes after they make it to the party. By minute nineteen he’s so worked up he can’t stand it and he pulls Tony into the nearest dark corner and accidentally rips the dress. Tony doesn’t seem to mind much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The tumblr post can be found [here](https://viennasunrise.tumblr.com/post/151329651770/hello-can-you-write-a-stony-for-84-or-79%22). Come say hi!!


	6. You deserve so much better

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: hiii! if you're accepting prompts, Steve/Tony - #85. You deserve so much better. thanks!!

It a surprise to Steve when, walking home from class one day, he runs into Tony Stark. Like, literally. He isn’t watching where he’s going and neither is Tony and before they know what’s happened Tony is flat on his ass, papers and books strewn everywhere and Steve, after trying and failing to catch Tony finds his face pressed into the side of Tony’s thigh. It takes every ounce of willpower Steve has to keep himself from blushing when he rolls away from Tony. He knows Tony’s schedule–he should be on the other side of campus right now.

“I’m–” Steve starts but Tony beats him to the apology.

“I’m really sorry, Steve. I wasn’t watching where I was going and I’m really tired and I’ve had a shitty day… I–I didn’t mean to run into you.”

Tony’s hurriedly trying to pick up all the paper and re-stack his books but he looks so sad and lost that it takes Steve a second before he realises he should probably be helping.

“It’s not a problem, Tony. Really. I wasn’t watching where I was going either. Don’t worry about it.”

“No,” Tony says and his voice sounds wobbly, “it’s not your fault, Steve. I know I need to be more careful. Ty’s always telling me what a menace I am and I know I need to watch where I’m walking. You don’t have to help me. It’s fine.”

Steve stops for a second, suddenly angry and not really sure why. “You’re not a menace, Tony,” he says flatly. Ty making him believe that of himself really sets Steve on edge.

“Ty’s right. Just look at this. And there was the lab accident last week, and I’m always covered in grease… I break stuff all the time. I–I really am all over the place, and…” Tony keeps rambling and Steve doesn’t catch a whole lot more of what he says, too distracted by what a giant asshole Ty is.

Steve’s known for a while that Tony and Ty are kind of a thing. He asked Natasha about it once and she told him to mind his own business or as Stark himself; which he knew he would never be capable of. He’d been in like (love, ok–Steve loves him) with Tony since freshmen year but he’d never had the guts to say something. Never-mind that Steve wasn’t out–Tony was intimidating and so smart and unbelievably attractive. Steve has always known that Tony is out of his league.

But hearing that Ty–someone Tony’s supposed to be able to depend on, to be safe with, to be loved by–has made Tony believe that he’s this way makes Steve see red in a way nothing else has been able to do before. Usually he has more control over his anger; now he wouldn’t mind punching in a few teeth. Especially if they belong to the son of a certain media mogul.

“Why are you here?” Steve asks, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Tony stops what he’s doing and looks back at Steve. “What?”

“I–sorry. I just know that you have an engineering lab on the other side of campus right now. I–why are you all the way over here?”

Tony sighs before turning back to his books, the mess almost totally cleaned up by now. “Ty needed help with his o-chem homework and I told him I had time after my lab but he needed it done like right-fucking-now so–here I am. I was going to try and make it to the last fifteen minutes of lab but then I like literally ran into you.”

“That was nice of you.”

“Ty didn’t really give me much of a choice. He was pretty pissed when I told him I needed to go to my lab but it’s OK. I should be able to talk to the TA and get more lab time later this week. I can catch up. It’s not a big deal.” Tony lifts the pile of books into his arms and starts to walk past Steve, this time careful to avoid ramming into him.

“You deserve so much better,” Steve says before he can stop himself. The second it leaves his mouth he wants to take it back but it’s too late. Tony stops dead in his tracks and looks up at Steve, tears welling in his eyes.

“W–what?” Tony says. He looks so small; so hopelessly sad that Steve can’t stop himself. He takes the books out of Tony’s hands, sets them down gingerly on the ground, and wraps Tony up in a hug. It’s not enough; Steve knows that. He can’t solve all Tony’s problems even if he wants to but he can’t just let him walk away believing he’s a menace like that.

“You’re not a klutz, Tony,” Steve says into his hair. Tony’s holding on for dear life and shows no signs of letting go anytime soon, “I don’t know where Ty gets off making you feel like less of a person but that’s not who you are.”

“How can you know that?” Tony mumbles into Steve’s chest. Steve squeezes him tighter.

“Because I know you, Tony. You’re impossibly smart, and brave, and kind. Ty clearly doesn’t know what the fuck he’s talking about.”

Tony pulls his face away from Steve’s chest and looks up at him, his face splotchy, “You really think all that?”

“I really do, Tony. I–” Steve sighs. He’s wanted to tell Tony how he feels for a long, long time. And maybe now isn’t the right time, and he doesn’t want to overwhelm Tony while he’s dealing with this shit from Ty, but he needs Tony to know that he’s so much more than Ty makes him feel. “I’ve thought that about you for a long time, Tony. You’re amazing. And I probably shouldn’t tell you this because my timing is absolute shit but I’ve had feelings for you since the day I met you. You’re worth more than Ty tells you. You’re worth so much more. And I know that you’d be happy if you could see that. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry that Ty tells you that shit. Because it isn’t true.”

Tony’s dropped his gaze again, clearly uncomfortable looking anywhere but at the pavement. He mumbles something but Steve doesn’t quite catch it.

“What was that?” Steve asks gently.

“I have feelings for you too.”

Steve’s heart swoops in his chest and he feels like he can’t breathe for a second.

Tony looks up at him and sniffs. It’s ridiculously adorable.

“I’ve had feelings for you for a long time. But I don’t know how to get away from Ty and I need to.”

Steve pulls him impossibly closer and drops a quick kiss to his forehead. “Come on. I think I know some people who can help with that.”

* * *

 

Later, after Bucky and Sam hauled all of Tony’s stuff out of Ty’s room and Natasha made it _incredibly clear_ that Ty was to leave Tony alone from now on, Steve finds himself curled up on the couch in his living room, Tony pressed up against his side, perfectly content with the world.

“I’m–” Tony breaks him out of his reverie, “I’m not OK, Steve.”

Steve looks over at him and brushes a chunk of unruly hair off his forehead. “I know, Tony. And that’s OK.”

Tony smiles sadly, tears threatening to fall again, before he takes a deep breath and melts into Steve’s side.

“Thank you,” he says softly.

“Don’t mention it,” Steve says. Some day soon he’ll respond with three different words, one’s he’s been waiting a long time to tell Tony, but today isn’t the day. And that’s OK.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The tumblr post can be found [here](https://viennasunrise.tumblr.com/post/151398626440/hiii-if-youre-accepting-prompts-stevetony). Come say hi!!


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